Therapeutic Cannabis

In Morocco, legal medical cannabis is increasingly attracting farmers

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In the north of the Kingdom, more and more growers are leaving the underground to join the legal medical and industrial cannabis industry. But red tape, low prices and the lure of the black market are still holding back momentum.

BAB BERRED, Morocco – Under a sweltering summer sun, Abderrahman Talbi observes the neat rows of cannabis plants thriving in his fields. Since joining Morocco’s legal cannabis industry two years ago, his life has taken a radical turn.
Like many farmers in the Rif mountains, long accustomed to growing the plant illegally, Talbi says he’s relieved to no longer fear police raids and seizures. “I can now say I’m a cannabis grower without fear,” he confides. “Peace of mind is priceless.”This change illustrates what Morocco hoped to achieve by legalizing cannabis cultivation for medical and industrial purposes in 2022, while maintaining the ban for recreational use. By regulating the sector, the government hoped to boost the economy of the Rif, one of the country’s poorest regions, and capture new tax revenues.

A pioneer on the African continent

This change of direction has made Morocco a pioneer among the world’s major producers, and the very first country in the Arab world to join the global movement led by Canada, Germany and Uruguay, which have legalized the production and use of cannabis.
The aim was also to divert farmers away from the black market, long tolerated in the Rif in the name of social peace. A region where tensions remain high: Al Hoceïma, one of the main towns in the area, was the scene of the country’s biggest demonstrations between 2016 and 2017.
The momentum seems to be there: according to the National Agency for the Regulation of Cannabis-Related Activities (ANRAC), some 5,000 farmers entered the legal system this year, compared with just 430 in 2023. Supervised production has also risen sharply, reaching almost 4,200 tonnes last year – fourteen times more than the first harvest.

Black market and green gold

But in reality, the black market remains dominant and extremely profitable. Driven by strong recreational demand in Europe and Africa, it threatens to short-circuit regulatory efforts.
Morocco currently has 5,800 hectares of legal cultivation, according to ANRAC. This figure is still very low compared to the 27,100 hectares of illegal cultivation recorded by the Ministry of the Interior. The latter reports that 249 tonnes of cannabis resin were seized by the end of September 2024 – an increase of 48% on the whole of the previous year.
Mohammed Azzouzi, 52, knows all about the dangers of going underground. Convicted of cannabis-related offences, he spent three years on the run before being pardoned last year, along with over 4,800 other people. Today, he is preparing for his first legal harvest and hopes to surpass the 10,000 dirhams (around $1,100) he used to earn each year in the underground economy.

Administrative delays

Since recreational cannabis is still banned, and each link in the chain requires a specific license issued by ANRAC, the bureaucracy weighs heavily. Many farmers are still reluctant to take the plunge.
To grow legally, you need to join an approved cooperative, which takes charge of buying back the harvest to transform it into medical derivatives or resell the resin to authorized manufacturers. This is the case for Biocannat, Talbi’s cooperative, located near Bab Berred, some 300 km north of Rabat. By 2023, it had bought some 200 tonnes of cannabis from around 200 farmers, before processing it into resin, dietary supplements, capsules, oils and powders for medical or cosmetic use.
In Issaguen, the main production area some 60 km away, enthusiasm has waned. Farmer Mohamed El Mourabit had welcomed the 2021 law with hope. Today, he is disillusioned: “The process is too complicated”, he sighs.

What about recreational cannabis?

Administrative delays aside, money is the key to the war. While cooperatives sometimes take months to pay growers around 50 dirhams per kilo of raw plant, the black market offers up to 2,500 dirhams per kilo of processed resin. A differential that continues to weigh heavily on farmers’ decisions.
Some people are calling for legalization to be extended to recreational use, which they see as the only way of really curbing the illegal market. But to date, this hypothesis remains unlikely.
Mohamed Guerrouj, Director of ANRAC, has made it clear that recreational use will only be considered in a medical context. “The aim is to develop the Moroccan pharmaceutical industry, not coffee shops”, he says.

Zeweed with Reuters

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In US states and countries that have legalized cannabis, consumption of tobacco, alcohol and hard drugs is declining

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THC, CBD, Health

A wide-ranging international study confirms what many public health players have been predicting: the legalization of medical cannabis is not only disrupting markets, it is also profoundly changing consumer behavior. Tobacco, amphetamines and alcohol are seeing their use decline, while cannabidiol (CBD) and THC-infused beverages are increasingly appealing to younger generations. At a time when France continues to ignore this debate, these data provide food for thought worldwide on the place of cannabis in health policies and the economy.

When medical cannabis replaces tobacco and amphetamines

The study, carried out by German and Lebanese researchers, is based on figures from twenty countries. It establishes a strong correlation between the opening of a legal medical cannabis market and a decline in certain risky forms of consumption. Tobacco first and foremost: the data show that cigarette use is down where medical cannabis is freely available. The same applies to amphetamines, stimulants whose use is considered particularly worrying. In other words, medical cannabis doesn’t just add to the arsenal of psychoactive products, it replaces some of them. The authors speak of a significant “substitution effect”. This conclusion, though measured – the study insists that these are population correlations, not individual evidence of causality – nevertheless suggests that legalization can be a remarkable lever for risk reduction.

A booming market

These beneficial effects are not limited to protecting the mental health of hyper-anxious patients. They also have significant economic side-effects.   Following legalization, sales of medical cannabis rose by an average of 26% in the countries concerned. Of course, the United States, considered a “special case” due to the size of its market, is pulling the figures up. But even excluding them, the trend remains solid: over 20 tonnes more every year. For the researchers, this demonstrates that a well-regulated market can generate sustainable economic benefits. The key, they insist, lies in clear legal frameworks, demanding production standards and simplified access for patients. Removing administrative barriers and investing in consumer education/information appear to be essential conditions for the sustainability of the industry. In a context where many governments are seeking to diversify and increase their tax revenues, this argument carries considerable weight.

CBD to treat alcoholism

The study is part of a growing body of scientific research. In the United States, a study this year showed that cannabidiol, a non-psychotropic molecule derived from cannabis, could reduce voluntary alcohol consumption. The researchers observed a significant reduction in the desire to drink and in withdrawal symptoms in the subjects studied. Another publication, in the journal Nature, highlights the potential of CBD to treat alcohol addiction, reducing the risk of relapse and protecting the brain from the neurotoxic effects of alcohol abuse. This work holds out the promise of a therapeutic revolution in the field of addictology.

At the same time, social habits are changing rapidly in the United States. A survey of young professionals shows that a third of workers from generations Y and Z now prefer THC drinks to traditional alcoholic beverages at afterwork parties. The phenomenon illustrates a cultural mutation in which conviviality no longer necessarily involves alcohol, but rather alternatives perceived as more modern and, for some, less harmful.

When will we open up to the old continent?

Taken together, these signals converge on one idea: medical cannabis and CBD are not just a new market, but also a tool for transforming behavior. By reducing the place of tobacco, amphetamines and alcohol, these substances could profoundly reshape consumption habits. This is yet another argument in support of the idea that the legalization of cannabis, whether for therapeutic or recreational use, represents a major health and social opportunity. Some countries, like France, with its record deficit and worrying alcoholism problem, should embrace this opportunity rather than wage a costly war against it, both for the state and its citizens.  

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With 67 validated products, Morocco launches its first exports of medical cannabis

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Morocco, cannabis

From the Rif to the laboratories, Morocco is accelerating its cannabic transformation. In the space of a year, the kingdom has gone from experimental licenses to the first official exports, while 67 by-products have already been given the green light for export. Between strict supervision, economic promise and the legacy of the Beldia, the supervised legalization of cannabis is taking a promising turn.

The great Beldia leap

In Morocco, the 2025 season marks a historic turning point. In the hills of the Rif, Beldia – the traditional variety, long hunted down and then tolerated – is now the official showcase of the legal canna-business. According to the Agence nationale de régulation des activités relatives au cannabis (ANRAC), in just one year, the area dedicated to this strain has more than tripled: 4,400 hectares versus 1,400 in 2024. Taounate, Chefchaouen and Al Hoceïma now boast 4,490 growers, federated into 250 cooperatives.
This controlled legalization has upset the balance. Where illegal cultivation fed a grey economy and cross-border networks, the government intends to replace it with a transparent, administratively-controlled circuit. With 3,800 new licenses to be distributed by 2025, and almost 3,000 renewals, Morocco is locking in its system, while at the same time demonstrating its ambition to transform the historic herb of the Rif into exportable green gold.

Prescription products and cosmetics

The other indicator of this shift can be seen in the shelves to come: 67 marketing authorizations have been issued by the Moroccan Agency for Medicines and Health Products. These include 26 cosmetics and 41 dietary supplements. Nothing reminiscent of the recreational joint – still prohibited – but a range that heralds the rise of a pharmaceutical and wellness sector.
Controls are multiplying to reassure partners and investors: 2,202 operations carried out in 2024, most of them linked to transport, but also inspections on cultivation, processing or export. A bureaucratic arsenal designed to prove that Moroccan legalization will not be taken lightly.

From the Rif to Australia

The international opening has already begun. The kingdom has shipped its first legal shipments to Australia and the Czech Republic, a first that marks Morocco’s determination to establish itself as a responsible player in the medical and industrial cannabis market. In a rapidly expanding global market, where Europe is still questioning its regulations, the gesture carries weight.
Behind the figures and the press releases, a delicate equation remains: transforming a culture secularly associated with marginality into a legal, profitable and respected industry. The cooperatives of the Rif, long stigmatized, are becoming the partners of a government that wants to combine tradition and modernity, exports and local development. It’s an economic and societal revolution that doesn’t say its name, but one that is reshaping Morocco’s relationship with cannabis. The second step, eagerly awaited by all farmers in the industry and many others, is the legalization of the green gold that is recreational cannabis.  

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Ghana bets on therapeutic cannabis, inspired by the Moroccan model

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With the legalization of medical and industrial cannabis, Ghana is poised to make history. To support this change, an official delegation will be visiting Morocco, a pioneering country on the continent, in September. The aim: to draw inspiration from a tried-and-tested regulatory model and try to transform a long-standing clandestine crop into an economic lever.

For generations, cannabis growers in Ghana have lived in the shadows. In forest clearings or hidden fields, they produced just enough to survive, while risking arrest, harassment and crop destruction.
Today, Accra’s movement to regulate the medical and industrial use of cannabis offers farmers something they have hardly ever known: legitimacy.

Strategic dialogue with Morocco

In July, the National Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) met in Accra with Morocco’s ambassador, Imane Quaadil, to study the regulatory framework developed by Rabat.
Led by its Managing Director, Maxwell Obuba Mantey, the Ghanaian delegation analyzed the mechanisms for issuing licenses to growers, monitoring production chains, organizing cooperatives and certifying plant varieties.
Imane Quaadil confirmed that Ghanaian officials will be visiting Morocco in September for a training and observation mission.
“Morocco is ready to share its expertise to strengthen drug control systems, not only in Ghana but across the entire African continent,” she said.
The Cherifian kingdom, one of the world’s largest producers of cannabis, legalized its cultivation for medical and industrial purposes in 2021. It then created the National Agency for the Regulation of Cannabis-Related Activities (ANRAC) to oversee the licensing and traceability of production. Since then, Morocco has harvested its first legal crops and gradually extended the areas under controlled cultivation.

Hope and uncertainty for Ghana’s growers

For small-scale growers in Ghana, this political change brings hope, but also doubts. Many have been growing cannabis illegally for decades to support their families, in regions where agricultural alternatives are scarce.
Legalization could open up long-denied markets and protections for them, but only if they succeed in overcoming the administrative hurdles associated with licensing, regulation and quality control.
” Despite the optimism surrounding this green revolution, experts insist on the need to ensure the inclusivity of all players, especially smallholders,” stresses political analyst Victor Oluwole. “It is essential to avoid a situation where the giants of the sector dominate the industry, leaving traditional growers in the lurch.”
Licensing costs are also a concern, with many growers fearing exclusion from the market. Others fear that cannabis cultivation will divert farmers from essential foodstuffs, threatening food security.

African heritage

Cannabis has deep roots on the continent. The plant is thought to have reached North Africa as early as the 12th century, while communities in southern Africa were using it long before European colonization.
Over the centuries, cannabis has become an integral part of trade, ritual practices and daily life, giving rise to emblematic varieties such as Durban Poison and Malawi Gold.
Colonial bans in the early 20th century were not enough to curb its cultivation, which is often perpetuated in marginalized communities dependent on this resource.
In December 2023, Ghana joined the growing list of African countries legalizing medical cannabis. The law was amended to allow the cultivation of low-THC varieties, exclusively for medical and industrial uses. The Ministry of Home Affairs was given the power to issue licenses, while NACOC ensures enforcement and control.

Green nuggets

The authorities are defending this new policy as a way of formalizing a trade that has long been illicit, reducing risks for growers and guaranteeing quality for patients and industries alike. The government also hopes that the industry will create jobs and stimulate industrial innovation.
Mark Darko, CEO of the Ghana Cannabis Industry Chamber, is aiming for annual sales of $1 billion. According to him, a hectare of cultivation could bring in $10,000, while global demand is expected to reach $21 billion by 2025.
For Ghanaian growers, the next few months promise to be decisive. Cannabis could be transformed from a clandestine resource into a legitimate crop, bringing with it major economic stakes and the promise of social transformation.

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USA: cannabis effective in curbing the opioid crisis?

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Cannabis, opioid crisis

A study led by Columbia University’s School of Public Health looked at the impact of cannabis on opioid use in states that have legalized weed, concluding that it can be useful in the fight against opioid addiction, but only among regular marijuana users. Explanations

Published in theInternational Journal of Drug Policy, the study reveals a decrease in problematic opioid use among cannabis users after the introduction of medical cannabis laws. However, these decreases were not observed when laws combining medical and recreational use were adopted.

By the end of 2019, 32 states had legalized access to medical cannabis. All those that went on to legislate recreational use had first regulated medical use. Using data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) from 2015 to 2019, researchers assessed the links between these legislations and problematic opioid use (prescription detour or heroin use).

A nuance for regular users

Of the nearly 283,000 participants, 4% reported diverted opioid use in the past year, while 1.3% reported use in the previous month. Three percent met the DSM-IV criteria for an opioid use disorder. However, these figures rose among cannabis users, with 15% reporting opioid misuse or an associated disorder.

“Our study is the first to explore the impact of cannabis laws on opioid-related outcomes among regular cannabis users, particularly those who started before the laws were passed in their state,” explains Silvia Martins, Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia.

In states that have legalized medical use only, the study found a modest decline in some opioid-related indicators among cannabis users. However, this trend was not confirmed in states that had also legalized recreational use. “Medical cannabis laws appear to be associated with a decrease in opioid use among cannabis users, but more research is needed to confirm these findings,” Martins adds.

Vigilance still required

Overall, the adoption of medical or recreational laws has not led to significant changes in opioid use or abuse in the general population. However, among regular cannabis users, reductions in some indicators were seen, but only in states that legalized medical use.

For Sylvia Martins, these results underline the need for constant monitoring. “The small number of states that have passed laws combining medical and recreational use, as well as their recent implementation, limit our analyses. With more data and hindsight, the impact could become clearer,” she concludes. She also calls for close exploration of opioid use among those who obtain cannabis via medical or recreational dispensaries.

While the promise of reducing the opioid crisis still seems timid, the study calls for further research to unravel the links between public policy, cannabis and public health.

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Morocco, future kingdom of legal cannabis?

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Morocco, cannabis, business

An African pioneer in cannabis regulation, Morocco took a major step forward at the end of 2024. With its legal sector now solidly structured and compliance standards scrupulously respected, the Cherifian kingdom is this year pursuing its stated aim of becoming a model for cannabis governance.  

At the annual general meeting of the Agence Nationale de Régulation des Activités liées au Cannabis (ANRAC) in Rabat, the agency’s managing director Mohamed El Guerrouj unveiled the sector’s impressive performance.
” In 2024, some 4,000 tonnes of cannabis were produced on a surface area of 2,169 hectares “, boasted Mr. El Guerrouj. An increase that reflects the rise of a booming legal industry. But beyond the volumes, it’s the total absence of regulatory non-compliance that’s worrying: “No non-compliance-related offences have been recorded”, says the ANRAC director.

A structured and inclusive ecosystem

This success is the fruit of close collaboration between local authorities, the relevant ministries and public institutions. A system reinforced by support mechanisms for farmers and operators in the sector, to enable them to meet the stringent production and distribution requirements.
The figures speak for themselves. Of the 4,158 license applications submitted in 2024, 3,371 were approved, representing a validation rate of almost 81%. Of these, 3,056 licenses were granted to 2,907 farmers, compared with just 430 licenses granted in 2023. This spectacular increase reflects the government’s determination to integrate small producers into this legal market. At the same time, 315 licenses were awarded to 158 industrial operators.

Economic windfall

This regulation does more than simply regulate the market: it reshapes the country’s economic outlook. Creating sustainable jobs, increasing farmers’ incomes and structuring a competitive private sector are among the expected benefits.
” We want to formalize the industry, consolidate the legal foundations and support local players in their development,” supports El Guerrouj. The objective is clear: to make Morocco an international benchmark in the legal cannabis sector.
ANRAC has even bigger plans for 2025. Priority will be given to intensifying product traceability measures and strengthening the competitiveness of the national market.

International investors

The ambition? Attract more foreign investment and boost exports.
With a rigorous yet open policy, Morocco aims to become a key player in a rapidly changing global market. With reforms designed to combine economic growth with exemplary governance, the kingdom intends to prove that strict regulation can rhyme with opportunities for rural communities and dynamism for the private sector.
With a vision that is as bold as it is transparent, Morocco is well on the way to winning its bet: to establish itself as a leader in green gold, on the strength of a socio-economic model that has everything to set an example, whether in Africa, Asia or Europe.

 

ZEWEED with Prohibition Partners, APANews and Reuters

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Brazil’s cannabis industry oscillates between disorder and progress

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In June 2024, Latin America’s largest country decriminalized the use and possession of cannabis. Progressive though it is, the new legislation is far from unanimous one year after its adoption. Investigation.

While personal possession of maconha has just been decriminalized, Lula’s Brazil, which is up for re-election in 2022, continues to navigate in limbo: the therapeutic cannabis sector has been waiting to be legalized for almost a decade. In South America’s leading economic power, the players committed to a dedicated industry are eclectic, from representatives of the Brazilian elite to speakers from working-class neighborhoods.

The decision had been awaited for almost a decade. Since June 25, possession of maconha (cannabis) has been considered a simple offence in Brazil, punishable by a warning issued by the police. By voting in favor of the decriminalization of cannabis for personal use, 8 of the 11 magistrates of the Brasilia-based institution put an end to a procedure begun in 2015 which aimed to rule on the constitutionality of a law passed in 2006: this considered the acquisition, conservation or transport of any type of drug for personal consumption a crime. After examination, the STF (Federal Supreme Court) had finally decided to limit the debate to cannabis alone.

Historical background

The 2006 law did not punish personal use of cannabis with imprisonment, preferring educational measures and community service. But until then, in the absence of objective criteria, it was left to the police and judges of the country’s 26 states to decide. According to its detractors, however, the law was the source of a great deal of racial and social discrimination, particularly if the consumer was black and/or from the favelas and working-class neighborhoods of the country’s 215 million inhabitants. In 2023, Judge Alexandre de Moraes, one of the Supreme Court’s magistrates, denounced the fact that “ young people, especially blacks, are considered to be drug traffickers if they are arrested in possession of much smaller quantities of drugs than whites over the age of thirty”.

“For many years, Iexperimented with cannabis, ayahuasca. These were things guided by my people, by my generation, by my peers, by my colleagues.” Gilberto Gil

The Supreme Court’s decision should lighten Brazil’s prison system. And from now on, the millions of Brazilian smokers will be able to shoot their maconha with less anxiety, sung from Tim Maia to Erasmos Carlos, via the former Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, a long-time campaigner for its decriminalization. “For many years,” he explained to the Brazilian press this year, “I experimented with cannabis, ayahuasca. These were things guided by my people, by my generation, by my peers, by my colleagues.”

72% of Brazilians are opposed to the recreational use of cannabis

The fact remains that this societal step forward was taken in the face of widespread national indifference: 72% of Brazilians say they are opposed to the recreational use of cannabis, primarily the 22% who attend evangelical churches led by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.
On the other hand, the inhabitants of South America’s leading economic power are more conciliatory when it comes to the use of cannabis for medicinal and industrial purposes, particularly in cosmetics – which is also the subject of debate in Brazil: in 2022, the Supreme Court authorized three patients to grow cannabis at home for medicinal purposes. This decision, which could set a precedent, comes to the rescue of the 430,000 Brazilians who today consume CBD.
Until now, they had only one option for obtaining it: to bring it in from abroad – at a high price, due to extremely high import costs. For Brazilian magistrates, growing a few cannabis plants at home is not a threat to public health. But the sages of the Supreme Court are careful to frame this decision: in order to plant cannabis, patients will have to justify a medical prescription and obtain authorization from the National Health Surveillance Agency, Anvisa. An extremely rigorous framework against a backdrop of great legal uncertainty. Medicinal cannabis has still not been legalized in Brazil: Bill 399 has been awaiting Congressional approval for ten years.

Patrícia Villela Marino, billionaire and advocate of medical cannabis

Patrícia Villela Marino is one of the activists on the starting blocks*. The philanthropic CEO of the NGO Humanitas360 is one of the leaders of the Brazilian movement advocating the legalization of medicinal cannabis. When she’s not in Brasilia, where she’s a member of the Council of the Presidency of the Republic, this Paulist travels the country’s provinces to attend forums and reflect on public policies that would support the medicinal use of cannabis as well as the industrial use of hemp. His foundation also helps fund a think-tank dedicated to this issue: the Institute for Social and Economic Research on Cannabis – “ This is about the right to life of the poorest patients. We have no right to delay investing in this field”, she stresses. Patrícia Villela Marino is in the vanguard of the pragmatism that is beginning to take hold in business circles, among Brazilian employers and, in particular, among its particularly conservative agro-industrialists, with regard to the economic potential of CBD and industrial hemp.

“ It’s about the right to life of the poorest patients. We have no right to delay investing in this area” Patrícia Villela Marino

Married to Ricardo Villela Marino, from one of the three families controlling the Brazilian holding company Itaúsa and the country’s largest private bank, Itaú Unibanco, Patrícia Villela Marino is both evangelical and pro-Lula. ” I’ve met many foreign companies speculating that our government will soon decide on a regulatory framework, and they’re already looking to position themselves, like the Green Hub, an American company. If we don’t want to find ourselves competing in our own country, we need to speed things up: our coffee and milk industries have collapsed. I’m convinced that the new industrial cannabis economy, which could be more inclusive than our old sectors, is our future. But the longer our legislators delay taking up this issue, the more our Brazilian start-ups and pharmaceutical companies are threatened.  ”

Activism, entrepreneurship and the new economy

For this wealthy progressive, a member of a ” comparable to the Rothschilds in wealth and influence “As Forbes magazine notes, “debating cannabis is Jesus’ agenda among us, because it requires us to overcome a lot of religiosity and self-righteousness”. A hypocrisy that does not spare the affluent in a country with one of the world’s greatest income inequalities. “Almost everyone snorts cocaine at parties, but no one dares to commit to the legalization of medical cannabis”, ironizes Patricia Villela Marino, who first had to impose herself in her own milieu, even if fortune is a persuasive argument.

“Lula elected president is excellent news for cannabis in Brazil.” Rafael Arcuri, President of the National Association of Industrial Hemp Producers

According to the second Brazilian medicinal cannabis yearbook, published by Kaya Mind in 2022, Brazilian cannabis, if legalized both recreationally and therapeutically, could bring in, after five years of shimming, up to 5.3 billion to the national economy and help create 328 new jobs. 000 jobs. “The eyes of the world are on our country,” says Viviane Sedola, founder of the online company Dr Cannabis, member of the Brazilian Economic and Social Council and of a federal government working group on psychoactive substances. Indeed, a medicinal cannabis economy has already developed in Brazil, without waiting for it to be legalized. Importers, pharmaceutical companies, platforms and associations: the thousand or so Brazilian companies already operating in the CBD sector generated 700 million reais (over 100 million euros) in 2023, representing growth of 92% compared to 2022, according to data collected by Kaya Mind.
The pioneers involved in this nascent Brazilian medicinal cannabis economy form a diverse group. Some entered the circuit after experimenting with its health benefits, like forty-two-year-old former professional tennis player Bruno Soares, who first used it for its anti-inflammatory effects. In 2022, on leaving the professional circuit, Soares invested over a million euros through his MadFish fund in the Ease Labs laboratory in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, which imports and distributes medicinal cannabis-based medicines. Carioca musician Marcelo Maldonado Gomes Peixoto, aka Marcelo D2, fifty-six, leader of the Planet Hemp band, has just launched his own range of CBD-based products, Koba by MD2, produced in partnership with Paraguayan company Koba, which “aims to democratize access to these medicines”.

Green light expected

Other players come from the world of science. Claudio Lottenberg, former CEO of Albert-Einstein Hospital (one of Brazil’s best and most famous private hospitals) and now Chairman of the institution’s Board of Directors, also heads up Zion MedPharma and Endogen, sites focused on cannabis-based products. At his side is Dirceu Barbano, former director of the National Health Surveillance Agency, Anvisa, which oversees the prescription and dispensing of cannabis-based medicines. All these operators are waiting for the decisions to be taken in Brasilia: ” Lula’s election as president is good news for cannabis in Brazil“In 2023, lawyer Rafael Arcuri, president of the national association of industrial hemp producers, noted. But it’s still hard to speculate on what might happen and how. The best hypothesis is that cannabis and hemp will be subject to broader regulations, with more authorized uses for cannabinoids or hemp. But cultivation on Brazilian soil remains a delicate issue. Lula can also use his powers to propose a new bill, more suited to this Congress, or issue a presidential decree regulating various aspects of cannabis and hemp marketing.” Order and progress… at last?

 

* The words of Patrícia Villela Marino, who has chosen not to communicate with the media for the time being, are taken from interviews given to the Brazilian press between 2023 and 2024.

 

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Brazil: disorder and progress

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At the end of June, Latin America’s largest country decriminalized the use and possession of cannabis. Progressive though it is, the new legislation is far from unanimous. Investigation.

While personal possession of maconha has just been decriminalized, Lula’s Brazil, which is up for re-election in 2022, continues to navigate in limbo: the therapeutic cannabis sector has been waiting to be legalized for almost a decade. In South America’s leading economic power, the players committed to a dedicated industry are eclectic, from representatives of the Brazilian elite to speakers from working-class neighborhoods.

The decision had been awaited for almost a decade. Since June 25, possession of maconha (cannabis) has been considered a simple offence in Brazil, punishable by a warning issued by the police. By voting in favor of the decriminalization of cannabis for personal use, 8 of the 11 magistrates of the Brasilia-based institution put an end to a procedure begun in 2015 which aimed to rule on the constitutionality of a law passed in 2006: this considered the acquisition, conservation or transport of any type of drug for personal consumption a crime. After examination, the STF (Federal Supreme Court) had finally decided to limit the debate to cannabis alone.

The 2006 law did not punish personal use of cannabis with imprisonment, preferring educational measures and community service. But until then, in the absence of objective criteria, it was left to the police and judges of the country’s 26 states to decide. According to its detractors, however, the law was the source of a great deal of racial and social discrimination, particularly if the consumer was black and/or from the favelas and working-class neighborhoods of the country’s 215 million inhabitants. In 2023, Judge Alexandre de Moraes, one of the Supreme Court’s magistrates, denounced the fact that “young people, especially blacks, are considered to be drug traffickers if they are arrested in possession of much smaller quantities of drugs than whites over the age of thirty”.

The Supreme Court’s decision should lighten Brazil’s prison system. And from now on, the millions of Brazilian smokers will be able to shoot their maconha with less anguish, sung by everyone from Tim Maia to Erasmos Carlos, not forgetting the former Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, a long-time campaigner for its decriminalization. For many years,” he explained to the Brazilian press this year, “I experimented with cannabis and ayahuasca. These were things guided by my people, by my generation, by my peers, by my colleagues.”

72% of Brazilians are opposed to the recreational use of cannabis

The fact remains that this societal step forward was taken in the face of widespread national indifference: 72% of Brazilians say they are opposed to the recreational use of cannabis, primarily the 22% who attend evangelical churches led by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.
On the other hand, the inhabitants of South America’s leading economic power are more conciliatory when it comes to the use of cannabis for medicinal and industrial purposes, particularly in cosmetics – which is also the subject of debate in Brazil: in 2022, the Supreme Court authorized three patients to grow cannabis at home for medicinal purposes. This decision, which could set a precedent, comes to the rescue of the 430,000 Brazilians who today consume CBD.
Until now, they had only one option for obtaining it: to bring it in from abroad; at a high price, due to extremely high import costs. For Brazilian magistrates, growing a few cannabis plants at home is not a threat to public health. But the sages of the Supreme Court are careful to frame this decision: in order to plant cannabis, patients will have to justify a medical prescription and obtain authorization from the National Health Surveillance Agency, Anvisa. An extremely rigorous framework against a backdrop of great legal uncertainty. Medicinal cannabis has still not been legalized in Brazil: Bill 399 has been awaiting Congressional approval for ten years.

Activism, entrepreneurship and the new economy

Patrícia Villela Marino is one of the activists on the starting blocks (1). The philanthropic CEO of the NGO Humanitas360 is one of the leaders of the Brazilian movement advocating the legalization of medicinal cannabis. When she’s not in Brasilia, where she’s a member of the Council of the Presidency of the Republic, this Paulist travels the country’s provinces to attend forums and reflect on public policies that would support the medicinal use of cannabis as well as the industrial use of hemp. Her foundation also helps finance a think-tank dedicated to this issue. Institute for Social and Economic Research on Cannabis – “It’s about the right to life of the poorest patients.
We have no right to delay investing in this area,” she stresses. Patrícia Villela Marino is in the vanguard of the pragmatism that is beginning to take hold in business circles, among Brazilian employers and, in particular, among its particularly conservative agro-industrialists, with regard to the economic potential of the CBD and industrial hemp.
Married to Ricardo Villela Marino, from one of the three families controlling the Brazilian holding company Itaúsa and the country’s largest private bank, Itaú Unibanco, Patrícia Villela Marino is both evangelical and pro-Lula. “I’ve met many foreign companies that are speculating that our government will soon decide on a regulatory framework and are already looking to position themselves, such as the Green Hub, an American company. If we don’t want to find ourselves competing in our own country, we need to speed things up: our coffee and milk industries have collapsed. I’m convinced that the new industrial cannabis economy, which could be more inclusive than our old sectors, is our future. But the longer our legislators delay taking up this issue, the more our Brazilian start-ups and pharmaceutical companies are threatened.”

Patrícia Villela Marino, billionaire and advocate of medical cannabis

For this wealthy progressive, a member of a “comparable to the Rothschilds in wealth and influence “As Forbes magazine notes, “debating cannabis is Jesus’ agenda among us, because it requires us to overcome a lot of religiosity and self-righteousness”. A hypocrisy that does not spare the affluent in a country with one of the world’s greatest income inequalities. “Almost everyone snorts cocaine at parties, but no one dares to commit to the legalization of medical cannabis”, ironizes Patricia Villela Marino, who first had to assert herself in her own milieu, even if fortune is a persuasive argument.

“Lula elected president is excellent news for cannabis in Brazil.” Rafael Arcuri, President of the National Association of Industrial Hemp Producers

According to the second Brazilian medicinal cannabis yearbook, published by Kaya Mind in 2022, Brazilian cannabis, if legalized both recreationally and therapeutically, could bring in, after five years of shimming, up to 5.3 billion to the national economy and help create 328 new jobs. 000 jobs. “The eyes of the world are on our country,” says Viviane Sedola, founder of the online company Dr Cannabis, member of the Brazilian Economic and Social Council and of a federal government working group on psychoactive substances. Indeed, a medicinal cannabis economy has already developed in Brazil, without waiting for it to be legalized. Importers, pharmaceutical companies, platforms and associations: the thousand or so Brazilian companies already operating in the CBD sector generated 700 million reais (over 100 million euros) in 2023, representing growth of 92% compared with 2022, according to data collected by Kaya Mind.
The pioneers involved in this nascent Brazilian medicinal cannabis economy form a diverse group. Some entered the circuit after experimenting with its health benefits, like forty-two-year-old former professional tennis player Bruno Soares, who first used it for its anti-inflammatory effects. In 2022, on leaving the professional circuit, Soares invested over a million euros through his MadFish fund in the Ease Labs laboratory in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, which imports and distributes medicinal cannabis-based medicines. Carioca musician Marcelo Maldonado Gomes Peixoto, aka Marcelo D2, fifty-six, leader of the Planet Hemp band, has just launched his own range of CBD-based products, Koba by MD2, produced in partnership with Paraguayan company Koba, which “aims to democratize access to these medicines”.

Other players come from the world of science. Claudio Lottenberg, former CEO of Albert-Einstein Hospital (one of Brazil’s best and most famous private hospitals) and now Chairman of the institution’s Board of Directors, also heads up Zion MedPharma and Endogen, sites focused on cannabis-based products. At his side is Dirceu Barbano, former director of the National Health Surveillance Agency, Anvisa, which oversees the prescription and dispensing of cannabis-based medicines. All these operators are awaiting the decisions to be taken in Brasilia.  : ” If Lula is elected president, it’s great news for cannabis in Brazil,“noted lawyer Rafael Arcuri, president of the National Association of Industrial Hemp Producers, in 2023. But it’s still difficult to speculate on what might happen and how. The best hypothesis is that cannabis and hemp will be subject to broader regulations, with more authorized uses for cannabinoids or hemp. But cultivation on Brazilian soil remains a delicate issue. Lula can also use his powers to propose a new bill, more suited to this Congress, or issue a presidential decree regulating various aspects of cannabis and hemp marketing.” Order and progress… at last?

 

Jean-Christophe Servant

 

1) The words of Patrícia Villela Marino, who has chosen not to communicate with the media for the time being, are taken from interviews given to the Brazilian press between 2023 and 2024.

 

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Can cannabis help opioid addicts?

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Cannabis therapy, opioid addiction.

A pilot study in Canada explores the use of cannabis to support patients undergoing treatment for opioid dependence* The results are promising, but obstacles remain.

 

Can medical cannabis be used to help people struggling with addiction to other substances? That’s the question researchers set out to answer in a pilot study recently published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Conducted at the University of British Columbia (UBC Okanagan) and Thompson Rivers University, the study sought to better understand how patients and staff experience the supervised use of therapeutic cannabis in a detoxification center.
The study focused on the Maverick Supportive Recovery center, located in British Columbia, Canada. This type of center offers structured accommodation where patients admitted to detox for opioid addiction problems receive inpatient care and support.

Weaning aid 

Participants in the study reported that the use of medical cannabis during withdrawal helped them to cope better with chronic pain, anxiety and depression, as well as helping them to find sleep – symptoms that are very marked during the detoxification process.
Another significant effect was a reduction in the desire to return to opioids, leading to an overall improvement in mental health.
For Professor Zach Walsh, psychologist and co-leader of the research, these initial results are hopeful: ” Our observations show that medical cannabis could actually help reduce cravings and encourage people to continue treatment. Participants clearly emphasized the benefits, both physical and psychological . ”

Stigma and training

Nevertheless, the study points to a major obstacle: the stigma that still surrounds cannabis use. Interviews with the center’s staff reveal an urgent need for better training for teams, and for cannabis for therapeutic purposes to be more clearly integrated into care protocols.
Pour  Professor Florriann Fehr, co-author of the study and interviewed by Cannabis health news: “ Reducing stigma through targeted training of professionals is crucial. Some people’s skepticism stems mainly from a lack of understanding of cannabis as a genuine medical treatment. This paves the way for major improvements in patient care. ” 

Results to be confirmed

Although these results are encouraging and corroborate many of the accounts gathered in recent years (20% of patients undergoing opioid substitution therapy report using cannabis to relieve withdrawal symptoms from opioids**), the researchers urge caution. Larger studies will be needed to confirm these observations and accurately assess the benefits and risks of using medical cannabis in detoxification programs.
This study was funded by the Interior Universities Research Coalition and the British Columbia Ministry of Health. Professor Fehr is due to present the results of this work in June at the International Council of Nurses Congress in Helsinki.  
In France, therapeutic cannabis has been the subject of an experiment led by the Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament (ANSM) since 2021. To date, access to it remains very limited (only 2,300 patients benefit from it, out of some 300,000 French people for whom medical cannabis would be an effective alternative to conventional treatments, which are addictive and fraught with side effects***).

*Opioids are a class of highly addictive drugs (heroin, morphine, fentanyl, tramadol), responsible for 70,000 overdose deaths in the US by 2024.
**source: Health Canada
*** The treatments that therapeutic cannabis could replace are opioids, benzodiazepines and hypnotic sleeping pills, all of which are extremely addictive physically.)
ZEWEED with Cannabis health news

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Cannabis and memory

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Czech Republic: medical cannabis out of the specialist cabinet

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One small step for Czech medicine, one giant leap for chronically suffering patients. Since April 1, all general practitioners in the Czech Republic have been authorized to prescribe medical cannabis.

This measure puts an end to a public health paradox: until now, only 250 specialists had the right to prescribe them, leaving thousands of patients on the sidelines, with persistent pain and inaccessible appointments.

The decision, welcomed by the medical profession, marks a turning point in the Czech approach to therapeutic cannabis. From now on, prescriptions can cover up to three months of treatment – a relief for patients, particularly those suffering from neuropathic pain, multiple sclerosis or advanced cancers. All without having to go to a specialist, sometimes several hours away.

8,000 patients monitored by specialist doctors

” It’ s a question of common sense,” says Petr Šonka, President of the Association of General Practitioners. ” We already prescribe strong opioids like morphine. Why can’t we prescribe cannabis, which presents far fewer risks of addiction or serious side effects? “In practice, the measure should not lead to an explosion in prescriptions: it is aimed above all at patients in pain, not at those hoping to hijack the system for recreational purposes.

This change is part of a Czech context increasingly favorable to the regulation of cannabis. Since 2013, its medical use has been authorized, but access to it has long remained marginal. In 2021, only 100 kilos of medical cannabis were prescribed nationwide. Two years later, the figure has risen to 320 kilos – and nearly 8,000 patients are officially monitored, a figure that observers believe is still far short of the reality.

600,000 Czechs use cannabis to treat themselves

According to a study by the National Drug Monitoring Centre, almost 600,000 Czechs use cannabis to treat themselves, outside any medical framework. In other words, self-medication reigns, in the absence of institutional access. By opening the prescription floodgates, the government hopes to regain control, regulate use and cut the ground from under the grey market.

However, this reform conceals an even more far-reaching one. Petr Fiala’s government is considering partial legalization of recreational cannabis, along the lines of the German model. Such regulation would put an end to a stubborn hypocrisy: on the streets of Prague, stores selling products with reduced (or no) THC are springing up like mushrooms. Added to this is the unrestricted sale of kratom, a euphoric substance also targeted by the Ministry of Health.

Between medical caution and pragmatic liberalism, the Czech Republic seems determined to take cannabis off the sidelines. The aim is not only to provide better support for patients, but also to take a further step towards normalizing the plant after decades of stigmatization. In the Czech Republic, hemp may yet be in the news.

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